Folding door

ABSTRACT

A folding garage door consists of two superposed, hingedly connected plate members, the upper edge of the upper plate member being pivoted to the door frame. The door is opened and closed by means of an operating lever pivoted to the door frame and linked to a motion transmitting lever which is hinged to the lower plate member and to the door frame. The several pivots are arranged in such a manner that the door remains open until closed manually. The door weight may be balanced by a spring attached to the motion transmitting lever.

United States Patent 3,155,147 11/1964 Smith 3,224,492 12/1965 Houk 160/207X FOREIGN PATENTS 245 ,972 7/1963 Australia 160/207 172,471 8/1960 Sweden 160/189 418,887 2/1967 Switzerland 49/203 Primary Examiner-Dennis L. Taylor Attorneyl(elman and Berman ABSTRACT: A folding garage door consists of two superposed, hingedly connected plate members, the upper edge of the upper plate member being pivoted to the door frame. The door is opened and closed by means of an operating lever pivoted to the door frame and linked to a motion transmitting lever which is hinged to the lower plate member and to the door frame. The several pivots are arranged in such a manner that the door remains open until closed manually. The door weight may be balanced by a spring attached to the motion transmitting lever.

5 PATENTED JAN Slam 3; 552,475

SHEET 2 or 3 FOLDING DOOR This invention relates to folding doors, and particularly to doors consisting of platclike members of approximately equal size connected to each other by horizontal hinges, the uppermost plate member being hinged to the door frame.

Doors of the type described are employed to advantage as garage doors, and the invention will be described hereinbelow with reference to garage doors, but is not limited to specific application. Known garage doors of this type are equipped with guides for the plate member or members depending from the uppermost plate member. The guides lead the plate members toward and away from the open position of the door in which the plate members are folded to form small acute angles with each other while being in a generally horizontal position.

The known doors are operated by means of handles arrangedon the lowermost plate member or near a set of hinges. As the door must fold outwardly if it is not to intrude on the storage space in the garage, the operator must move away from the door while opening it if the handles are on the lowermost plate member. If the handles. are arranged near the outwardly moving hinges, the leverage available is limited and operation of the door requires a relatively great effort. The known guide arrangements must be kept well greased if excessive friction is not to hamper the operation of the door, and are frequently quite noisy. i

A primary object of the invention is the provision of a door which is operated more convenientlythan the aforedescribed known devices and is practically noiseless in its operation.

With this object and others in view, the invention provides a door of the type described with a motion transmitting member I having an end portion pivoted to the lower one of two plate members adjacent the upperedge portion of the lower plate member. A pivot is arranged on the doorframe at about threefourths of the height of the door opening and is spaced from the upper plate member in its closed position in a horizontal inward direction. Another portion of the motion transmitting member is secured to the pivot. The door is opened and closed by an actuating mechanism which pivots the motion trans: mitting member.

Other features and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will readily become apparent from consideration of the following description of preferred embodiments when considered with the appended drawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows a closed folding door of the invention in fragmentary side elevation;

FIG. 2 shows modifications of the responding view;

FIG. 3 illustrates the door of FIG. 2 in the open condition; and

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of a door which may be either that of FIG. 1 or that of FIG. 2. 7

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 4, there is seen-a door frame 14 whose opening is fully obstructed by two plate members l and 2 superimposed edge to edge. Each plate member is assembled from spacedly juxtaposed metal rails which reinforce a relatively thin metal sheet, as is conventional.

As is best seen in FIG. 1, the upper edge of the upper plate member 1 is fastened to the two upright members of the frame 14 by pivot pins 3 of which only one is seen in the drawing. The lower plate member 2' is suspended from the lower edge of the upright plate member 1 by means of a long hinge 4. The bottom edge portion-5 of the plate member 2 is received in a channel 6 recessed in the door sill. The channel 6 is inwardly offset from the plane of member 1 and holds the lower plate door of FIG. 1 in a cormember 2 at an obtuse angle to the upper plate member 1.

Pivot pins 7 are fixedlyinserted opposite each other in the two upright members or jambs of the frame 14 at about threequarters of the height of the door opening which is about 7 to 8 feet. In the illustrated closed condition of the door, the pivot pins 7 are offset inwardlyof the garage byabout inches from the upper plate member 1. Each pivot pin 7 carries a flat steel bar 8. A wide face of only one bar 8 is seen in FIG. 1.

The main portion 17 of the bar 8 is vertical, and its lower end is attached to the plate member 2 near the hingedly fastened upper edge of the latter by a pivot pin 15. The bar 'portion 17 is offset at an obtuse angle from the short upper end portion which is attached to the pivot pin 7.

Another pivot pin 9 is mounted in the door jamb illustrated in FIG. I somewhat below the pin 7 and carries another flat steel bar 10. A short portion 12 of the bar 10 extends from the pin 9 approximately horizontally inward of the garage and another short portion obliquely downward toward a slot in the metallic frame 14. The main portion of the bar 10, which is the operating lever of the door, is exposed in the slot and is vertical in the closed position of the door as best seen in FIG. 4. The free end portion of the lever 10 is widened to provide a handle 16.

A short length of the same rigid steel bar stock forms a link 11 which is hinged to the short upper end portion of the bar 8 and to the downwardly oblique portion of the operating lever 10. The hinge pins at the two ends of the link 11 are approximately twice as far from the axis of the pivot pin 9 than from the axis of the pivot pin 7 respectively. Another link 13 hingedly connects the short arm 12 of the operating lever 10 with a bracket portion of the upper plate member 1.

When the long arm 17 of the lever 10 is swung clockwise from the position shown in FIG. I, the link .11 causes the bar 8 to swing about the axis of the pin 7 at about twice the angular velocity of the lever 10, thereby folding the lower plate member 2 on the upper plate member I and causing the latter to swing clockwise on the pivot pins 3. The swinging movement of the upper plate member is assisted by the connecting links 13 at both sides of the door which are pulled downwardly by the bars 8, Further details of operation will become evident from the following description of the modified door seen in FIGS. 2 and 3.

The door shown closed in FIG. 2 and open in FIG. 3 combines several modifications of the first-described door for the sake of convenient pictorial representation, but each of these modifications may be used independently. The basic features of both illustrated doors are identical or closely similar, and the differences are not visible in the front view of the closed door, FIG. 4.

The frame 14 carries an upper plate member 1' on pivot pins 3, and the lower plate member 2' depends from hinges 4' on the upper plate member. Its bottom edge 5 is received in a channel 6' in the door sill. Pivot pins 7' and 9' are mounted on the door jambs as described above.

The bar 8' differs from the aforedescribed bar 8 in having a short arm 24 which extends vertically upward from the pin 7' in the closed door. The operating lever 10' differs from the lever 10 by having a long arm 18 which extends from the pivot pin 9' inwardly of the garage and projects horizontally from the closed door opening. The connecting links 13 are omitted from the modified door.

A pivot pin 21 at the upper end of the short arm 24 connects each bar 8 with the upper end 22 of a dependent, approximately C-shaped coupling bracket 20. The upper end of an upright, helical compression spring 19 is fastened to the lower end of each bracket 20, and the lower end of the spring 19 is attached to a door jamb by a fastener 23. In the closed condition of the door, as shown in FIG. 2, the axis of the spring 19 passes in a straight line from the fastener 23 through the axes of the pivot pins 7' and 21 so that the spring does not exert any torque on the bar 8'.

When the operating lever 10' is swung manually through an angle of approximately 45 to 55 from the position seen in FIGS. 2 and 4 by means of the handle 16 from the outside or by means of the arm 18 from inside the garage, the movement is transmitted to the plate members I, 2' by the pivot pins 15' and the bar 8' which is swung by the line 11' through an angle about twice the angle of movement of the lever 10'. As soon as the pivot pins 21 move away from positions of linear align ment with the fasteners 23 and the pivot pins 7', the contracting springs 19 assist in shifting the door toward the open position shown in FIG. 3 in which the plate members 1', 2' are more or less horizontal and enclose a small acute angle.

During the opening movement of the door, the hinge 4' swings upward in an are which intersects the arc of movement of the pivot pins The latter are upwardly spaced in FIG. 3 from a line connecting the axes of the hinge 4' and of the pivot pin 7'. As long as the lever 10' is not moved counterclockwise on the pivot pin 9' from the position shown in H0. 3, the door tends to remain open without relying on the force of the springs 19.

The illustrated doors of the invention are operated by means of the levers 10, 10' with very little effort from inside the garage or from the outside by a person who stands out of the path of the moving door. However, if so desired, the force of an actuating motor may be transmitted by the bars 8, 8' to the lower plate members for opening and closing the doors. The motor may be connected to the bars 8, 8' by means of chains or gears for pivoting the bars when the motor is energized. However, a motor drive is not normally required even with very heavy doors of the invention when they are equipped with balancing springs 19.

Gears may be employed to replace the elements of the three-bar linkage constituted by the hingedly connected bars 8, 10, 11 or 8', 10, 11' in an obvious manner, but the illustrated arrangement is preferred because of its simplicity and its noiseless operation.

At some sacrifice in convenience, the lever 10, 10 may be replaced by handles attached to the lower plate member 2, 2' adjacent the pivot pins l5, l5, and such a simplified and inexpensive arrangement may be acceptable in light doors. Other variations will readily suggest themselves to those skilled in the art on the basis of the above teachings.

lclaim:

1. A door comprising, in combination:

a. normally upright door frame means (14) defining an opening of predetermined height;

b. an upper plate member (1) having an upper edge portion hinged to said frame means for pivoting movement of said plate member about a horizontally extending first axis and a lower edge portion;

a lower plate member (2) having an upper edge portion hinged to said lower edge portion of the upper plate member for pivoting movement of the plate members relative to each other about a second horizontally extending axis, and a lower edge portion,

1. the height of each plate member between the respective higher and lower edge portions being approximately equal;

d. moving means for moving said plate members between a closed position and an open position;

1. said plate members in the closed position obstructing said opening and enclosing an obtuse angle therebetween, one of said plate members being substantially upright;

2. said plate members being approximately horizontal, enclosing a small acute angle, and projecting from said opening in an outward horizontal direction when in the open position; said moving means including:

3. a motion transmitting member (8) having a first portion pivoted to said lower plate member adjacent the upper edge portion of the same;

4. a pivot (7) on said door frame three-quarters having a third, horizontally extending axis at about three-fourths of said predetermined height and spaced from said upper plate member in the closed position of the same in a horizontal inward direction, a second portion of said motion transmitting member being secured to said pivot for movement about said third axis; and S. actuating means (10. 11) for pivoting said motion transmitting member about said third axis. 2. A door as set forth in claim 1, wherein said actuating means include an operating lever (10) pivoted to said door frame means and a linkage (ll) connecting said lever to said motion transmitting member.

3. A door as set forth in claim 2, wherein said linkage mcludes a rigid linking member having two terminal portions respectively pivoted to said motion transmitting member and to said operating lever.

4. A door as set forth in claim 2, wherein said operating lever has a first portion (16) accessible from outside said door frame means in the closed position of said plate members and a second portion (18) projecting inwardly from said opening.

5. A door as set forth in claim 2, wherein said moving means include another pivot (9) on said door frame means securing said operating lever to said door frame means for pivoting movement about a fourth horizontally extending axis, said linkage being hingedly fastened to respective parts of said motion transmitting member and of said operating lever, the spacing of said parts from the associated third and fourth axes respectively being such that movement of said operating lever about said fourth axis through a predetermined angle causes movement of said motion transmitting member about said third axis through approximately twice said angle.

6. A door as set forth in claim 5, wherein said predetermined angle is approximately 45 to 55 when said plate members are moved from one to the other one of said positions thereof by movement of said operating lever.

7. A door as set forth in claim 2, wherein said moving means further include connecting means (13) directly connecting said operating lever to said upper edge portion of the upper plate member for pivoting the latter about said first axis when said operating lever pivots about said fourth axis.

8. A door as set forth in claim 1, further comprising yieldably resilient means biasing said motion transmitting member toward an angular position relative to said third axis in which said plate members are in the open position.

9. A door as set forth in claim 8, wherein said yieldably resilient means include a tension spring (19) having one terminal portion fastened to said door frame means, a coupling member (20) fastened to another terminal portion of said spring and hinged to a part of said motion transmitting member for pivoting movement about a fifth axis, said one terminal portion, and said third and fifth axes being located on a straight line when said plate members are in the closed position, said third axis being interposed between said one terminal portion and said fifth axis.

10. A door as set forth in claim 9, wherein said motion transmitting member is a two-armed lever fulcrumed on said pivot, said first portion and said part of the motion transmitting member respectively constituting the arms of the lever. 

1. A door comprising, in combination: a. normally upright door frame means (14) defining an opening of predetermined height; b. an upper plate member (1) having an upper edge portion hinged to said frame means for pivoting movement of said plate member about a horizontally extending first axis and a lower edge portion; c. a lower plate member (2) having an upper edge portion hinged to said lower edge portion of the upper plate member for pivoting movement of the plate members relative to each other about a second horizontally extending axis, and a lower edge portion,
 1. the height of each pLate member between the respective higher and lower edge portions being approximately equal; d. moving means for moving said plate members between a closed position and an open position;
 1. said plate members in the closed position obstructing said opening and enclosing an obtuse angle therebetween, one of said plate members being substantially upright;
 2. said plate members being approximately horizontal, enclosing a small acute angle, and projecting from said opening in an outward horizontal direction when in the open position; said moving means including:
 3. a motion transmitting member (8) having a first portion pivoted to said lower plate member adjacent the upper edge portion of the same;
 4. a pivot (7) on said door frame three-quarters having a third, horizontally extending axis at about three-fourths of said predetermined height and spaced from said upper plate member in the closed position of the same in a horizontal inward direction, a second portion of said motion transmitting member being secured to said pivot for movement about said third axis; and
 5. actuating means (10, 11) for pivoting said motion transmitting member about said third axis.
 2. said plate members being approximately horizontal, enclosing a small acute angle, and projecting from said opening in an outward horizontal direction when in the open position; said moving means including:
 2. A door as set forth in claim 1, wherein said actuating means include an operating lever (10) pivoted to said door frame means and a linkage (11) connecting said lever to said motion transmitting member.
 3. A door as set forth in claim 2, wherein said linkage includes a rigid linking member having two terminal portions respectively pivoted to said motion transmitting member and to said operating lever.
 3. a motion transmitting member (8) having a first portion pivoted to said lower plate member adjacent the upper edge portion of the same;
 4. a pivot (7) on said door frame three-quarters having a third, horizontally extending axis at about three-fourths of said predetermined height and spaced from said upper plate member in the closed position of the same in a horizontal inward direction, a second portion of said motion transmitting member being secured to said pivot for movement about said third axis; and
 4. A door as set forth in claim 2, wherein said operating lever has a first portion (16) accessible from outside said door frame means in the closed position of said plate members and a second portion (18) projecting inwardly from said opening.
 5. A door as set forth in claim 2, wherein said moving means include another pivot (9) on said door frame means securing said operating lever to said door frame means for pivoting movement about a fourth horizontally extending axis, said linkage being hingedly fastened to respective parts of said motion transmitting member and of said operating lever, the spacing of said parts from the associated third and fourth axes respectively being such that movement of said operating lever about said fourth axis through a predetermined angle causes movement of said motion transmitting member about said third axis through approximately twice said angle.
 5. actuating means (10, 11) for pivoting said motion transmitting member about said third axis.
 6. A door as set forth in claim 5, wherein said predetermined angle is approximately 45* to 55* when said plate members are moved from one to the other one of said positions thereof by movement of said operating lever.
 7. A door as set forth in claim 2, wherein said moving means further include connecting means (13) directly connecting said operating lever to said upper edge portion of the upper plate member for pivoting the latter about said first axis when said operating lever pivots about said fourth axis.
 8. A door as set forth in claim 1, further comprising yieldably resilient means biasing said motion transmitting member toward an angular position relative to said third axis in which said plate members are in the open position.
 9. A door as set forth in claim 8, wherein said yieldably resilient means include a tension spring (19) having one terminal portion fastened to said door frame means, a coupling member (20) fastened to another terminal portion of said spring and hinged to a part of said motion transmitting member for pivoting movement about a fifth axis, said one terminal portion, and said third and fifth axes being located on a straight line when said plate members are in the closed position, said third axis being interposed between said one terminal portion and said fifth axis.
 10. A door as set forth in claim 9, wherein said motion transmitting member is a two-armed lever fulcrumed on said pivot, said first portion and said part of the motion transmittiNg member respectively constituting the arms of the lever. 